Soprani.ca: Embracing Then Extinguishing the (Cell) Phone Network

What is Soprani.ca?

a bridge to people on the phone network:

• a way to contact them over the Internet, no carrier needed
• using normal text/picture messages and calls
• has been built (for CA/US anyway): https://jmp.chat/

a replacement for the cellular network itself:

• the part that transmits calls/messages/data over the air...
• ... hasn't been built yet, so we're working on that now: WOM

The bridge: JMP

JMP gives you a real phone number that is Internet-enabled

you can use your phone number from an app or web browser

you don't need to pay a cell carrier if you don't want to

• or switch to data-only and save some money ($23/mo total)

DEMO...

Replacing the rest: WOM

WOM (WPAN Of Messaging) replaces the radio part of cell service

WOM is XMPP over chibiArduino (thin messaging on IEEE 802.15.4)

WOM uses public airwaves for P2P or client-server communication

WOM gateways will provide Internet connectivity (want to help?)

WOM with JMP lets you text people if near a gateway (or wifi)

WOM works even without gateways; XEP-0174 allows peer-to-peer

WOM - the details

operates over 900 MHz bands (902-928 in NA, 868.0-868.6 in Europe)

would be nice to add white spaces (~50-600 MHz with coordination)

900 MHz allows for dozens of km (miles) of line-of-sight range

less range in urban centres - gateway volunteers crucial

900 MHz regulation lets us mesh so can multi-hop to gateway

Bringing JMP and WOM mainstream

integrate WOM radio into existing cell phones (ideal)

• DragonBox Pyra, Purism Librem 5, Neo900, others?
• gives users LTE if they don't mind the carriers tracking them
• or go WOM-only for no tracking - eventually: WOM-only phones

create JMP SIM card for seamless JMP with existing cell phones

Benefits: security, privacy, and more

if friends insist on SMS, JMP encrypts so your carrier can't see

if you go WOM-only, carriers can't track where you are

if on LTE, still harder to track you by phone number if using JMP

WOM gives you control: network stays up if power/cell goes down

great for journalists, activism, and disaster resiliency

and it saves a lot of money today, using JMP with data-only plan

For everyone: building the network(s)

community involvement is key, in physical networks and software

running WOM nodes, especially nodes on the Internet

improving XMPP clients (especially iOS), standards

SIM cards and cell phones - know how to make these?

• let's talk!

Questions?

JMP - https://jmp.chat/

WOM - https://wom.community/ - want to run a WOM gateway?

• signup to know when we're ready at https://wom.community/operatives

Denver Gingerich - https://ossguy.com/

the slides:

• https://ossguy.com/talks/20171022_radical_networks/
• the source code for this talk is available here
• these slides are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0